The Demon and the Angel
by slafferty2020
Summary: Simple NaLu story, mostly an AU. Based around END Natsu and an angelic Lucy, but read the first chapter for a better idea. I'm pretty bad at consistency, so sorry for all the long spaces between updates. Rated T for Language, mainly.
1. Chapter 1

**The Demon and the Angel:**

Quick Note: Hey, I know I said I'd probably be doing one shots for a while, and this was originally a one shot, but once I finished I thought it'd be a pretty cool story. Because it was originally going to be a one shot, this first chapter is a bit of a summary of what happens (albeit a _very_ long summary), and the first few chapters would just be what happens in this chapter, just more detailed. Let me know if you guys do want this to be a full on story, or if I should just leave it as a one shot.

Natsu knew her secret, she was way too easy to read, and Natsu had figured it out for himself within the first few days of her arrival in Magnolia. Lucy Heartfilia had arrived in the town on a sunny day; fitting, Natsu thought.

Before meeting her, Natsu didn't believe himself capable of having emotion - _real_ emotion - for anyone; an unfortunate side effect of being a demon. He could fake it, sure, so well that his whole social life had become a lie, even to himself. But with Lucy he couldn't even block out a true connection to the blonde, no matter how hard he tried, and he tried hard.

 _Heartfilia_. It was a name that almost anyone in Fiore knew, but very few knew what powers the Heartfilias controlled, other than their illustrious wealth. But Natsu knew their secrets. The Heartfilia estate had always belonged to angels, and not a single unholy foot could be set on those grounds without being burned into a pile of shining ash. The Heartfilia family was full of exceptionally strong angels, particularly Layla Heartfilia, _and_ her daughter, Lucy. Unfortunately, - fortunately, in Natsu's case - Layla had passed away when she pushed herself too far fighting demons. Alas, even the holiest beings fall ill.

Natsu had been hiding from the heavens' armies in Magnolia, as he could hide his demonic essence well, unlike the other demons. Natsu had the ability to appear human. and therefore be sensed as human, by those with the sixth eye. However, one of his foolish comrades had come to him to inform him of the news of the eternal war (more demonic casualties, as usual), something he had ordered all demons specifically and precisely not to do. Hence, demonic activity was reported in Magnolia to a select few angels.

He was expecting someone to come, attempt to "purify the corruption", fail, then deem it as a false order, and he would continue his mission. But he wasn't expecting them to be so… stubborn.

Natsu had accidentally stumbled over the girl (before he knew of her angelic nature) while she was moving in, and subsequently broken something she had been carrying. Despite being a demon, Natsu believed himself to be a gentleman, and of course invited her to lunch, even though she deemed the broken item absolutely worthless. Lunch had been nice, not any sort of intimate interaction, just Natsu's way of apologizing, but he had let his mouth run, and accidentally invited the blonde into Fairy Tail.

Fairy Tail was a group of outcasts - many of them former criminals and pirates, turned "good guy" - that Natsu had joined within a month of his going into hiding. He had mentally scolded himself for letting his mouth run without a filter, and then expected her to turn him down. But much to his surprise, she took him up on the offer. She had told him she was an outcast herself, looking for a home, and a new family, a story Natsu had believed. The thought that the blonde was anything holy hadn't even sprouted in his brain yet, but he later realized that she was just looking for her target; the next demon to die.

Once he had figured it out, he tried to stay away from her. He really did. It broke every rule of existence, an angel and a demon being friends, and maybe even something more. He hid, he didn't stay in the guild hall anymore. Instead, he stayed on the streets, or in the forest, when it rained. His disappearing act lasted almost two weeks, but they had found him. It was raining, hard, and Natsu was in the forest. He was miserable, he hadn't eaten in a few days, and the little strength he had was being executed by the rain and the cold. The entire guild had been searching for the boy since the third day after his disappearance.

Natsu had cursed the world for who specifically found him. It was Lucy, of course, who else would it be? Natsu literally had the Devil's luck, and he lacked the strength to turn down the help. So there he was, a demon being rescued by an angel.

For a while, he was being mended to in the guild hall's infirmary, and being closely watched so he wouldn't try another daring escape. And, of course, most of the time it was Lucy who was watching over him. He questioned it, maybe Lucy already knew that he was her target, and that's why she was trying to get so close to him; so it'd be all the more painful to kill him. But after a week of getting to know her, Natsu realized that it'd be worth it.

During that week, he fell in love, and every second, he hated himself for it, but he fell in love anyway, and it was sincere bliss. Natsu realized that no matter how painful his death would be, it'd be worth it. He would spend an eternity of one of hell's victims (instead of one of its rulers) in exchange for a day with Lucy. To him, Lucy was heaven.

But then, it was revealed to him. Lucy didn't know he was her target. He had confronted her about it, told her that he knew she was an angel, but she stopped him before he admitted his true nature. She told him that she was searching for a demon, the vilest of creatures, damning the world of man with suffering and corruption, so she could kill it. But Natsu was wrong, she didn't know it was him, and her words stung his heart all the more, something he didn't think he had.

But Natsu recognized the truth in her words. He knew what he was, and at that moment, staring into the eyes of a literal angel, he began to hate what he was. No, he had always hated his existence, it was just at this moment he realized it. He hated that he would always be seen as the bad guy, the one responsible for every ounce evil in the world. It stung him that there would always be someone trying to rid the world of his presence, his corruption, the suffering that sourced from his existence. But what stung him the most was the fact that he had fallen in love with an angel, and his love could never be anything more than a demon's dream. Lucy would never love him back if she found out what he was. Instead, she would hate him, and probably kill him. But Natsu wouldn't let her know. She couldn't know. Her words were true, he was selfish, so he kept it to himself, dreaming that they'd be able to love one another forever, yet recognizing the false hope.

And she loved him, and he loved her. No one else in the guild knew, no one in the world knew, really, but they loved each other. And those few weeks were indeed Natsu's heaven. He began to loathe himself more and more with each passing day, but whenever he was with Lucy, the pain seemed to disappear. When he was with Lucy, he was not a demon, and she was not an angel, they were just two lovers, holding each other so very close, as if they let go, the other would just fade away.

However, the pure bliss that had captivated Natsu had also blinded him, hid away his true goal from his mind. He wasn't in Magnolia to be human, to fall in love, and a fellow demon had reminded him of that. The other demons didn't realize Lucy was an angel, but demons couldn't fall in love with anyone, be it holy or not. So they attacked. One of Natsu's fellow demons by the name of Gajeel Redfox had attacked Fairy Tail. His strength wasn't quite as extensive as Natsu's, however close, but what he lacked in strength he made up for with his brutality, cruelty, and relentlessness.

He humiliated three members: Levy Mcgarden, and her best friends, Jet and Droy. He nailed them to a tree, and marked them with the demon's brand with their own blood. Lucy was horrified, and assumed it to be the demon hosted by Magnolia, but Natsu was even more appalled. He knew what this meant, this was a reminder. He was breaking the rules, betraying the mission.

Soon, Natsu ran away once again, and the attacks stopped. He needed space to figure everything out, and he talked with Gajeel. Gajeel abused his ability to be harsh. Although in a fight, Natsu would surely emerge on top, Gajeel's creativity in his art of gore gave him the same ranking as Natsu in the armies of hell. He abused Natsu with his words, reminding him of his mission - to regain strength and take over the town - and calling him a disgrace to all demons.

Natsu accepted his words, once again recognizing truth, but he would not accept his mission. His love for Lucy overcame his desire to satisfy hell's orders, and he knew that completing his mission would involve hurting everyone in Fairy Tail, including Lucy. He would've been able to do it, only if he hadn't ran into Lucy. He would've done it if he hadn't invited her to lunch, then recruited her into the guild. He would've been able to complete the mission, if only he had remained a demon, not alluded himself with his false dreams of being human, and fallen in love.

Natsu encountered Lucy, and he knew that the pain that was coming in exchange for his weeks in heaven was upon him. He had to tell her, or else more pain and suffering would come to the guild, and to Lucy. He had to tell her what and who he was. So he told her. He had cried, sobbed, but he told her.

"Lucy, I am so, so sorry. I love you, I love you so, so, so goddamn much. But I can't love you. You made me feel emotion, _human_ , but I can't feel emotion. These last few weeks, spending them with you, it felt like heaven, but I can't ever even sneak a glimpse of heaven. I'm so sorry Luce, I should've told you this from the start."

Lucy was crying just as much as Natsu was. "Natsu, what? What are you saying?" She held him close, with her forehead on his.

"Let me kiss you, one last time. Please, once more." He begged her, and when she nodded he kissed her, more passionately than ever, a fire burning in his chest. He wished he could've savored that moment forever, with her lips on his, her arms wrapped around him, and his arms wrapped around her. But he broke it, and everything he had become, it broke with the kiss. The pain he felt was worse than anything, worse than everything he had to go through in hell, much worse. But he had to do it, for Lucy. "I'm sorry Luce, but I'm the one you've come to kill. I am Ethereal Natsu Dragneel, one of the five First Generation Generals of the armies of Hell. Arch enemy of the heavens, hunter of angels, corrupter of mankind, harvester of souls, and servant of Satan."

Natsu swallowed, tasting the salt from his tears, and he saw the disbelief in her eyes. He stepped away from the blonde, and removed the human disguise he had been wearing for so many months. His horns returned, breaking apart his pink hair, which had now taken on a bloodier hue. Veins of skin on his neck leading up to his jaw broke away, being replaced with the black corruption that cursed him. His vest burned away, revealing more cursed patches on his chest and stomach, and blood red wings emerged from his back. "I'm sorry, Lucy, but I am END."

 **Author's notes: So that's it. I know that the last few paragraphs are oddly specific in comparison to the rest of the fic, but I felt that I'd ruin the mood if I made it that weird summary style I had going on in the rest of the fic. Like I said at the beginning, I might make a full on story for this, if you guys think it's a good idea, just let me know with reviews and what not.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Arrival**

Natsu's eyelids cracked open, the sunlight immediately barraging his vision. He winced, and sat up slowly, a few spots in his back cracking. The sky seemed bluer than usual, the clouds, whiter, and the grass, greener. He loved the sunshine, but Natsu remembered falling asleep under the shade of a tree. The tree was still present, just the shadow shifted. "Has it really been that long?" Natsu quietly asked himself.

He glanced at the sun, which had far passed the center of the sky, and reveled in his thoughts of nothing in particular for a moment before bouncing up. He was supposed to be back at the guildhall before noon. "Happy, come on!" He yelled to his companion, still sound asleep in the grass.

The blue cat popped up uncharacteristically quickly, but his voice cracked from sleep as he spoke. "Yeah? Natsu, what's going on?"

"Come on, Happy, Erza's gonna kill us, we were supposed to be there at noon!" Natsu had already begun to sprint. The guild hall was about a fifteen minute run away - but Natsu could make it six.

"Oh, I see." Happy stared at his hand, taking a moment before recognizing his impending doom. "Holy shit Natsu, why'd you let me sleep? She's gonna _literally_ kill us." He said before taking flight.

Natsu turned his face away from his companion and smirked. Unlike Happy, he wasn't _actually_ scared of Erza, feigning it only to seem normal. Natsu couldn't remember the last time he was genuinely scared, not that 'wide eyes, dropped jaw' bullshit act he puts on.

 _Another side effect of being a demon._ Natsu thought to himself. He wondered what it felt like, fear. Emotion in general, actually. The very few emotions he had the privilege to feel seemed very distant, although he often even convinced himself with his act.

Natsu shook himself out of his thoughts to focus on running. He could indeed mop the floor with Erza's bloody and limbless corpse, but doing that would give him a less than decent reputation, and would also most likely reveal his true nature. So he ran, fast, even calling upon a small portion of his demonic power to boost is speed. But he whipped around a corner too fast, giving him barely enough time to slow down before he slammed into an pedestrian.

Immediately, Natsu was captivated. Not in an intimate way, he had no ability to think like that about a human, but she seemed different than the rest. She seemed pure, incorruptible, and for a split second, Natsu felt vulnerable, as if she immediately knew everything about him, just from a glance. But the feeling disappeared as quickly as it came, and Natsu helped the girl up. She was blonde, with big, brown eyes, and a more than averagely sized rack. She wore a white vest, with blue stripes lining the edges, and a blue skort that went down to about half a foot above her knees.

"Ah crap, I'm sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention." Although Natsu was a demon, he didn't always embrace the stereotypical demonic characteristics. In fact, he hated said stereotypes. He didn't just feast off of the suffering of others, like demons are supposed to. Well, he did, but that doesn't mean he just hurts everyone he possibly can.

He looked down to what she had dropped to see a hundred shards, the remainders of a ceramic, maybe. "Shit, I'm so sorry about breaking that, I can pay for it, if I can…" He said, ignoring his expected presence at the guild hall, as well as the absence of a certain flying cat.

The blonde was perfectly fine and uninjured, and laughed, something Natsu was not expecting, and it immediately entranced him. "No, it's okay, thank you though." She looked down to the broken item. "Honestly, I kinda wanted to get rid of that thing anyway." She giggled again, and Natsu blinked, still lost in his captivation.

"Are you sure? Maybe lunch, or something, I'd feel bad if I didn't make it up." Natsu said. He didn't mean this in any intimate way, and it was clear that the girl didn't take it so, but Natsu had a reputation he had to uphold. He expected her to say no, but he wasn't disappointed when she said otherwise.

"Actually, I'll take you up on that. Not because you owe me, but I'm moving in, and I think it'd be nice to meet some of the neighbors." She giggled again, and Natsu decided it was a common occurrence that he most definitely would not mind.

"Is that so? Then welcome to Magnolia…" He made a gesture and gave the girl an expecting glance, but still wore a charming smile.

She blushed, and dropped her head in attempt to hide it - Natsu wasn't expecting that much of a reaction. "Lucy." She mumbled.

Natsu snorted. "'Scuse me, _ma'am_ ," He pulled out the word playfully. "But you're gonna have to speak up a bit."

Lucy's face took on an even darker hue of velvet, but she kept her head angled downwards - Natsu still noticed the blush deepen. "Lucy." She mumbled again.

"Seriously? I really can't understand you." Natsu made himself sound chipper and friendly, an act he had plenty of experience with.

She cleared her throat, and whipped her head up, forcing herself to make eye contact with the friendly stranger. She made her voice prouder, and straightened her back in attempt to appear taller. "My name is Lucy." She said, almost yelling.

He smiled, amused by her slight annoyance. "Well then, _Lucy_ " he said, stretching the word out once again. "I'm Natsu." He stuck his hand out with his brightest smile on his face; the '1000 Watt Smile' he liked to call it.

Lucy stared at him, eyes wide and even though she felt her cheeks burn even hotter than before, she couldn't bring herself to look away. She timidly met his hand with hers, expecting sandpaper skin, and a grip that would rip her arm off. But instead, she nearly cooed aloud at the softness of his skin, and while his grip wasn't weak, it was gentle, yet had a noticeable strength contained.

Natsu could see the reaction in her eyes, and while he still felt bad about wrecking her vase, he couldn't help but laugh in his head, somewhat evilly. _Humans are too easy._ He thought to himself.

Natsu had brought his new friend to a restaurant that he often went to, mainly for the bottomless dishes, but also because the waitresses weren't always trying to get in his bed (something that he had indeed let happen before, but for entertainment purposes _only_ ).

Being a demon, his body requires more than eight times more food than that of the average human, 80% of which had to be meat, more or less. However, he restrained himself when he ate with Lucy, only eating half as much as he usually would. Granted, that was still four times more consumption than a normal person, but she didn't seem to mind.

He went from ignoring his expected presence at the guild hall to completely forgetting about it - along with the whereabouts of his blue furry friend - getting lost in conversation with Lucy. He found that her voice rarely got a break, something that didn't annoy him much; her voice was oddly tolerable, and actually somewhat soothing, much like her laugh.

About 13 dishes in, Lucy had just finished a story and he signaled the waitress to stop bringing him more; she looked like she needed a break. "So what are you doing in Magnolia?" he asked Lucy before she could start another story.

"Oh, well it's a very long story, so I'll be quick." Lucy said, pausing to take a breath. "I'm kind of a… well, I guess you could call me an outcast. My family didn't like me very much…" Her voice darkened and her eyes were cast down to the table. It was obviously a hard topic for her to talk about.

Whilst not outraged, or anything of the sort, Natsu was surprised that anyone ever didn't like Lucy. He was a demon, with the smallest tolerance level known to man, demon, or angel, and he genuinely liked Lucy's presence. "Lucy, if you don't want to talk about this, you don't have to." He did want to know, but he didn't want to seem insensitive.

She shook her head and smiled, but Natsu noticed it failed to reach her eyes. "No, it's okay, I need to get over it eventually. Anyways…" She inhaled. "I ran away from home, I doubt they even noticed I left. I guess I'm just an wanderer, looking for a new family, to put it simply."

Natsu could relate to that. Even though he was a demon, and demons were supposed to be absolutely heartless, he hadn't always gotten along with the other Generals of Hell. He wished he could've run away, escaped his fate as a general, but there aren't many people who would be willing to take a demon in.

He hadn't even noticed the thought before it escaped his lips. He had asked Lucy to join Fairy Tail. _Shit, running my fucking mouth, yet again._

He explained to her what Fairy Tail was: a group of outcasts that he had joined just a few days after his arrival in Magnolia to make him fit in better. Most of its members were former crooks and criminals who wanted to escape their past life of sin, others were just innocents that were bored of their life of, well, innocence. But Natsu treated them like how he would treat his family, if he had one.

Natsu continued to mentally yell at himself for being so careless, but he still awaited her answer, a little anxious. He was afraid she'd say no, then everything would be weird and awkward. He had just met her after all. Or maybe she'd make a scene, yelling at him, assuming that he was only after her body; a fair, yet incorrect assumption.

But her answer was not as he predicted. Instead, Lucy's face became one of true and almost contagious joy, and Natsu couldn't even help but genuinely smile, something that not often occurred. "Really? That'd be okay with everyone?" She asked, smile still staining her lips.

Natsu couldn't say no now, she was practically cheating with that smile. "Of course, and if not, I'll just pummel them." He said casually, and smirked to himself when she giggled and blushed, yet again.

There was a healthy pause before Lucy spoke up. "Thank you, Natsu." Her voice became softer, _sweeter_ , and the demon just loved it even more. "I was expecting to not fit in here, for a while, at least. And yet here I am, having lunch with someone, and joining a group of misfits. So thank you."

"Don't mention it. Anyway, it'll be nice to have someone I _actually_ like in the guild." He genuinely meant that. Although he could make it seem otherwise, most of the guild members made Natsu crazy - it was so tempting for him to rearrange their internal organs.

Lucy smiled once more and giggled into her hand, and to Natsu it seemed like she was deliberately trying to drive him mad. It then occurred to him how quickly she got under his skin, and that bugged him. He wasn't like what demons were made out to be, for the most part, but he was rather intolerant, especially when it came to humans.

He never had a burning hatred for them, or even a subtle one, but to Natsu, humans were still a nuisance. They were ignorant and self-centered, they fought with one another, bringing greed and violence everywhere they went. To Natsu, humans were the true demons, just too small-minded to realize it.

But Lucy was different. Although he had known her for only a few hours, she seemed, well… different. Natsu couldn't even describe it. She was so pristine and pure, so untouched by the corruption of both humans and demons alike, as if immune to all evil. And she was so beautiful, something he didn't believe he could think of someone. Her skin was so clean and shiny, like that of a porcelain doll, her hair as bright as the sun, her eyes as deep as the pits of Hell, but the eternal pain and suffering replaced instead with peace and warmth. She was inhuman… she was perfect.

 **A/N: Hey everyone, sorry for the massive delay. I know that there were a few people who wanted this as a story, so I'll try my best to make it a good one, but please be patient. Like always, tell me what I did wrong and how I can improve and whatnot, but I do want to know one thing in particular… I really don't know if these chapters are an acceptable length, so PLEASE tell me if you guys want it longer or shorter. Also, I know everyone says this, but I am really going to try to update more.**


	3. Chapter 3

Natsu kicked the doors open, and they slammed with a loud _boom_. He felt more than a few pairs of eyes land on him, one pair particularly threatening.

"Natsu…You are four hours late." She castigated aggressively, marching over with burning eyes. Both her verbal and physical pace had a heavy 'stomp' to them, but were quick enough to be quite frightening. "Where have you been?!" She growled.

Natsu laughed nervously - an act, like always - and itched the back of his head. "Oh, hehe, hey Erza. Oh man Happy…" he looked to his friend with expecting eyes, receiving no more than a glare in return. He couldn't blame him. He had somewhat abandoned him when he ran into Lucy, but to get no help in such a dire situation? _Ouch_. "We must've really lost track of the…"

He was cut off by Erza, who's tone had completely changed. It had lost its angry displeasure that it so recently occupied, replaced by a soft and gentle presence - a very rare occurrence with Erza. "Oh, I see you brought someone along."

"Huh? Oh yeah." He looked at Lucy, who stared back with wide eyes and pink cheeks. He grabbed her wrist, his touch surprised by the unfamiliar softness of her skin, and pulled her to him, then pushing her further into the hall. She stumbled along clumsily, and would've fallen if Natsu hadn't slyly grabbed her wrist again earning him a slight, but not unnoticeable blush. "Oi, everyone!" He yelled, making extra sure that _everyone_ in the hall had their eyes on the girl. "This is Lucy! I ran into her on the way back, and she's joining the guild!" He could see the air around her cheeks warp from the heat her blush was emitting, and almost laughed at the confused, embarrassed look plastered on her face.

She stared into a void of unknown eyes and brutish faces, the temperature of her skin rising exponentially. But soon, the mood unexpectedly shifted, and everyone yelled a cheers or welcome, their faces no longer expressing anything less than joy.

"Oh, um, hi everyone." Lucy almost whispered, her cheeks still cherry pink. But the group's attention was no longer on her, and had returned to their relative conversation, food, or drink.

"You two know each other?" Erza asked, grinning subtly. She hadn't ever heard of someone Natsu knew from out of the guild except for Igneel, who he basically never talked of.

Natsu feigned confusion. "What? No. Didn't I say I ran into her on the way back?" Happy had sat on his shoulder, the glare replaced by his normal joyous expression.

"Oh, I should've known." Her eyes sagged, a look of self disappointment spreading across her face. "You _literally_ ran into her."

"Yeah, what else do you think I meant?" He maintained his confused expression, but shifted his gaze to Lucy, who was staring at his companion in awe. "I was running too fast and I hit her. I made her break something." He looked down, glooming his eyes, and changing his voice to be guilty and grim.

Lucy reached for the boy's hand, falling for his ashamed act. "No, Natsu, I already said-" She was cut off by the red-head.

Erza's eyes became frightening once again, narrowed in suspicion. "Natsu… You hurt her, didn't you?"

Natsu's voice returned to its playful default, and he wagged his hand in denial. "No, no, she's fine, but I took her to lunch to make up for her vase." He smirked, spotting that Erza took this as a valid excuse for being late.

"Oh, I'm impressed Natsu. I would've expected you to blame it on her." The expected voice of Erza was replaced by another, and Lucy turned to see a shirtless boy, black hair, and about the same age as Natsu. He had a similar build as well.

"Oi, put a shirt on, stripper." He spat aggressively, balling up his fist and sticking his face in the boy's.

The boy panicked quickly and shoved on a shirt before returning to his cool self. "Hmm, not even gonna introduce me first? Psh, what a kid." The boy turned his head the other way, ignoring Natsu's aggression.

"Asshole, we're the same-" Natsu's petty protests were cut off by hand in his face.

"I'm Gray." The boy waved, still holding Natsu back.

Lucy giggled, already amused by the bickering of the two. "Nice to meet you Gr-" She stopped talking when Natsu socked Gray the face, earning a smack to his own.

It was at times like these Natsu _really_ had to restrain himself. Right there, he could've fucked Gray up, left the guild hall stained with his burnt entrails, or brand his chest with the devil's mark, cursing him to forever suffer. But he had to hold himself back, true rage replaced by simple horse play.

Natsu reared back, preparing to unleash another punch, but was stopped by Erza before he could let it go. "Natsu, not in front of our guest." She said it sharply between teeth, stressing each syllable.

Lucy just giggled.

* * *

"Come on, I'll show you some people." Natsu grabbed her hand, marching proudly to some elevated ground by a staircase. He pointed to the bar in the back of the hall, occupied by a few more people than five. "That girl right there, that's Cana."

"Which one?" He hadn't been very specific with his description, and Lucy couldn't quite trace his finger well enough.

"The one with the huge mug, that's Cana."

Lucy saw the one he was talking about, and she wouldn't even call that a mug - it's size was that of a small barrel. She looked as if she was in her late-teens, barely old enough to legally drink, with wavy brown hair reaching just below her shoulder blades, and tan skin, on the side of white. She sported an orange bikini top and jeans, clamped on by a red belt. She was pretty, no doubt, but Lucy got an impression that she spent much of her time drinking.

Lucy's attention was soon distracted by a slim girl who placed another "mug" in front of the teen. She looked to be about the same age, with silver hair - also wavy - falling to just above her hips. Her hair in front was tied up into a ponytail - Lucy assumed it was to keep it out of her eyes - and was framed by two bangs that fell to her chest. Her curves were more than somewhat complimented by a sleeveless, maroon dress reaching her knees. Her skin was pristine, without blemishes or wrinkles, a bit paler than Cana's, and Lucy immediately found herself impressed and fairly jealous of her beauty.

Natsu traced her eyes to the bartender, and smirked. "That's Mirajane - Mira, she likes to be called."

Lucy looked to him, jaw slightly dropped. "She's-"

"Yeah, I know." He stopped her before she could finish. "And she's just as nice as she is pretty." Natsu meant it, Mira was a very nice girl, and pretty too. While her voice was a bit high for his preference, she didn't speak that much, making it an issue he rarely had to deal with.

He pointed to a man, an old one, sitting on top of the bar. He was miniature, at the size of a small child, with hair only around the outer ring of his head. He had a thick, white mustache, and Lucy would've even thought that he looked wise, if he wasn't absolutely shit faced. He slapped his knee and threw his head back, laughing so hard she would think it'd break his aged shell. But, no, he just laughed some more, then downed another mug of his drink, yelling to Mira for another.

"Makarov, is his name. Yeah, I know he looks like an old geezer…" Natsu paused for a moment, sparing a glance at the man, then cringing a bit. "And he is… but he's our leader, of sorts. It unspoken, it's just kinda a thing we all accept." He said, planting residual sentiment in his voice.

"He looks…" Lucy paused for a few seconds, struggling to find the right word. "Umm, interesting." She said, unable to come up with any other fitting word.

"Hehe, yeah, he's quite the character." He rubbed the back of his head, then pointed in another direction. "Oh, and those two, the old guy and the kid. See 'em?" He rushed impatiently.

Lucy nodded, amused.

"The older one's Macao, and that's his son Romeo." Macao was slim, and decently muscular, with slimmed back, dark blue hair. His jaw and chin were covered in a healthy amount of stubble, and a thin mustache was placed gingerly under his nose. His son took very much after him, with the same color hair, and a very similar figure. He was young, Lucy guessed no older than six, but he wasn't at all unfit, impressively toned for his age. The two were laughing together, with Macao drinking from a mug and Romeo asking for a sip, cringing from the taste when he got his wish. She got a little sad, envious of the evidently enjoyable relationship the child had with his father. She thought of home, the bitter, lonely estate filled with nothing more than antiques and an abusive father.

Natsu went on to introduce a few more, quickly, but sufficiently, then he led her to an empty table. He hollered at a young girl he pointed out to Lucy earlier, Kinana, and ordered a bunch of food for himself. Lucy insisted she didn't want anything, especially nothing alcoholic, but he ordered her something called a "firecracker" anyway. Both orders came fast, Kinana rushing out; it was obviously a busy time for the girl.

Natsu immediately dove in, starving from his nap, and Lucy watched for a minute, then looked shyly at her drink. It had an shiny residue to it to it, purple, from one perspective, but blue from another. She took a timid sip of the drink, expecting a nasty smack, but got hit with absolute awe. Whilst not strong enough to consider the taste as bitter, the alcohol was still noticeable, but was mixed with a sweetness that reminded her of strawberries. Her eyes widened, something Natsu was too preoccupied with his food to see, then dove back in for another sip. The sip became a gulp, and soon her glass was empty. She looked for Kinana, hoping to get another, but decided against it - the girl looked very busy, and Lucy'd feel guilty if she added another order to her long list.

She looked at Natsu, who had already finished half of his unnatural portion of food. "So what do you guys do around here?" She asked, spinning the glass in her fingertips.

"What?" Natsu looked up from his full plate, cheeks full of food.

Lucy giggled at the boy. Despite his unmannerly behavior that she wasn't used to, she found his company quite enjoyable. "Like, what do you do to pass the time?"

"Oh," Natsu chewed for a few seconds before continuing. "Well, we fight." He chewed some more. "Most of the time it's me and Gray." He licked his fingers greedily as Lucy giggled again. "And some nights, we drink."

Lucy couldn't stop laughing, amused by the boy's look of innocence as he ate. "And that's it?"

"Yeah. We all kinda pitch in money for the hall, and food and drinks. It's not much, but it's enough to get by."

"What does everyone do?"

"Well, of the people you know…" He took another huge bite. "Gray's a Firefighter, Erza's a cop, Mira's a model," Lucy's eyes widened a bit. "Laxus is an electrical engineer, Levy's a Librarian…" Natsu continued to list people and their occupations, but after a little Lucy stopped listening to him and just watched. She couldn't help it, but Natsu spotted her quite quickly. "What're you looking at?" He narrowed his eyes in a playfully threatening way, softly kicking her leg under the table.

Lucy quickly looked at her hands, which had curled up on her lap. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks. _"_ Uh, nothing in particular." She shook her head, ashamed of her unawareness. But she couldn't help it, she hadn't ever felt like this. Bah, it was settled: Natsu was most definitely, hands down, no questions asked, the _cutest_ boy she had ever met.

 **A/N: Hey guys. Hope you guys don't hate me too much for this, but I deleted chapters 3 and 4, and I'm gonna rewrite 4 soon. I didn't like how it was moving, it felt way rushed, and the plot was choppy and boring. I'm hoping you guys like this version and my v2 chapter 4 more, and I'm super sorry for the like, 2 month delay. I had to finish summer school, and I got way into Heroes of the Storm for a week, and now that school's starting I'm gonna continue to write fairly slowly. I'll try to focus a little more on writing, but along with schoolwork I also have football, so I don't have much free time. Anyway, sorry again. Please review (roast me), all that stuff, and I'll talk to you guys next time.**


End file.
